Raymond James Financial Inc. Sells 28,001 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. $MLM

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. reduced its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 7.4%, selling 28,001 shares, leaving it with a total of 352,201 shares valued at approximately $168 million.
• Martin Marietta Materials reported a missed earnings estimate for the recent quarter, with EPS of $5.43 compared to the consensus estimate of $5.44, and revenues of $1.81 billion below analysts' expectations of $1.88 billion.
• The company announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.79 to $0.83, set to be paid on September 30th, reflecting a positive change in its dividend strategy.

Raymond James Financial Inc. reduced its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 7.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 352,201 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 28,001 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.58% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $168,399,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 27,536 shares of the construction company's stock worth $13,166,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 1,880.3% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 369,382 shares of the construction company's stock worth $176,613,000 after buying an additional 350,729 shares during the period. Ethic Inc. increased its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 6,379 shares of the construction company's stock worth $3,091,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC increased its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 20.5% in the 1st quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 31,872 shares of the construction company's stock worth $15,239,000 after buying an additional 5,414 shares during the period. Finally, Aberdeen Group plc increased its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 82.6% in the 1st quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 28,691 shares of the construction company's stock worth $13,675,000 after buying an additional 12,979 shares during the period. 95.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MLM. Wall Street Zen raised Martin Marietta Materials from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $625.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $609.00 to $637.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $525.00 price objective (up previously from $515.00) on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Friday, August 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $622.63.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Up 1.0%

Martin Marietta Materials stock traded up $6.2940 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $607.0340. 204,428 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 477,506. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $571.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $532.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.67, a PEG ratio of 5.48 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $441.95 and a fifty-two week high of $633.23.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The construction company reported $5.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $5.44 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 11.88% and a net margin of 16.47%.Martin Marietta Materials's revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.76 EPS. Martin Marietta Materials has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a boost from Martin Marietta Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio is currently 17.53%.

Insider Transactions at Martin Marietta Materials

In other Martin Marietta Materials news, Director Laree E. Perez sold 1,038 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $613.32, for a total transaction of $636,626.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 15,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,455,554.44. This represents a 6.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

About Martin Marietta Materials

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc, a natural resource-based building materials company, supplies aggregates and heavy-side building materials to the construction industry in the United States and internationally. It offers crushed stone, sand, and gravel products; ready mixed concrete and asphalt; paving products and services; and Portland and specialty cement for use in the infrastructure projects, and nonresidential and residential construction markets, as well as in the railroad, agricultural, utility, and environmental industries.